Off the cuff Purple Sauerkraut

[Evilgrin]

This is what i call kimchi light. Its 4 14oz bags of Dole slaw mix wept in 4-5 tsp of canning salt. 2 TBS of gochugaru that has a pretty fair amount of salt in it. Radish shreds are good in it too, even plain old radish.

Use a packer to get it tight in the fermenter.

Both lids in place. Inner one holds the "kraut" down.

 

[Oldskewl]

Wow that would make for some quick kimchi! Saves all the time chopping up the veggies. I just made a batch of kimchi tonight. Julienne the daikon is what takes the most time.

 

[S-Met]

Kimchi stew is the pinnacle of enjoying RIPE kimchi. I can eat it cold too but old kimchi is stellar for stew. Its the rage in Korea but you will likely never see it used in a restaurant in the USA.

Check out the menu below. Kimchi jigae, one of my favs on the menu, or the osam kimchi pot (not on the menu). They start out with 3-6 different small kimchi plates while you wait for your food. And a shot of sake with every draft beer.
Aura Korean & Japanese Restaurant
www.eataura.com

 

[Evilgrin]

Looks good but glass noodles and spam are not normally used in kimchi jjigae. Thats more like budae jjigae aka army base stew. The Korean place i go to most often literally covers the table in banchans. (little side dishes) and all you can eat refills of them too. Around 12 or so of them all over for a table of 2.

http://www.asiankitchenstl.com/menu

 

[Evilgrin]

Wow that would make for some quick kimchi! Saves all the time chopping up the veggies. I just made a batch of kimchi tonight. Julienne the daikon is what takes the most time.

Yes but its awful thin for most uses. Works fine in stirfried noodle dishes and kimchi pancakes though. Its also green cabbage instead of nappa. Green cabbage kimchi is called yang baechu kimchi. Nappa kimchi is tong baechu kimchi or just baechu kimchi.

Experiment for sure though with different cabbage, radish and even turnips or kohlrabi. They all make delicious kimchi or even simple ferments. When i make ggaktugi (radish kimchi) i mix either turnip or kholrabi with the radish. Cut them differently so you can tell them apart. Taiwanese cabbage makes really really good kraut or kimchi. Its very similar to green cabbage but hard to find unless you have a LARGE Asian market.

IMO the ONLY rule in making kimchi is the pepper flakes. Ive tried other peppers and none taste quite the same as sun dried Korean pepper flakes. Korean Buddhist monks dont even add garlic or fish products to theirs. Aside from the peppers i would highly recommend good fish sauce like RedBoat40n or NewTown 60n. Megachef Premium isnt bad either. It does have some added sugar but thats fine for ferments.

 

[Oldskewl]

Went to the store to buy the ingredients to make some kimchi. But they didn’t have any Napa cabbage. So it was time to give the Evilgrins coleslaw mix kimchi a try. The website of the recipe I usually follow was down so I used a different one. Little heavy on the onion or garlic from the first samples. I’ll give it a few days in the fridge to mellow out. It definitely was a quick way to make kimchi!

 

[Evilgrin]

I made a batch of it a few weeks ago. This time i made the effort to use a 2% salt mix and Korean pepper flakes that are much lower in sodium. I used less too but they are also hotter then the ones i normally use. No rinsing so its much closer to a kraut recipe. Turned out great for stuff like brats and hotdogs. Its super sour now.

The slaw mix version has less uses but its very convenient for what it is. Use whatever kind of cabbage you like. Get a kraut cutter or good madoline. I really like Taiwan cabbage for kimchi. Its kinda hard to find unless you have a good Chinese market.

I use this cheap Weston cutter. Turns a head of cabbage into slaw in a minute or two.
https://www.amazon.com/Weston-Cabbage-Shredder-70-1401-W-Stainless/dp/B00196NOZM

 

[Temptd2]

That looks really good! I need to make some kimchi too. Have some good purple cabbage sauerkraut but looking forward to the spicy stuff.

I'm looking at your chairs there and realized they look familiar because we apparently have the same ones!

 

[Staestc]

I have not been following this thread at all. I know kimchi after about 45 trips to South Korea. Don’t think I ever had red cabbage kimchi in Korea but entirely possible I did. What I did have, in Sheppard’s Garden in England, at the Polish Mexican Bistro, was a Red cabbage sour kraut that was just phenomenal with kielbasa. Not sure if it was a long Aged lactic or what, but I still want to make it. It was just phenomenal!

 

[Oldskewl]

That looks really good! I need to make some kimchi too. Have some good purple cabbage sauerkraut but looking forward to the spicy stuff.

I'm looking at your chairs there and realized they look familiar because we apparently have the same ones!

Bought the chairs at Wolfs furniture. Along with the table and hutch. Bought the matching barstools and trash can at a discount furniture store months later. Finish on the table hasn’t held up too well for daily use. I have the desire to sand it down and refinish it.

 

[Temptd2]

Wait - there is a matching trash can???

 

[Temptd2]

Travis LOL at Polish Mexican bistro in England! Now that’s a high-speed cultural collision for sure!

 

[Oldskewl]

Here is the matching trash can! Lol!

 

[Temptd2]

View attachment 629205

Here is the matching trash can! Lol!

NICE!!! Where the heck did you find that??

 

[Evilgrin]

Made a batch of one of my faves. I add a secret ingredient though....Some pear added to the paste with onion, garlic and Redboat. Toss all that into the Nutribullet with a couple tbs of water. Add a few tbs of gochugaru and let that set while the radish weeps in a mix of 50/50 salt/sugar.

After 1-2hrs of weeping drain off the liquid that comes out of the radish but DONT throw it away yet. You may need a little of it to top it off in the jar.

Return the drained radish to the bowl with chopped green onion and mix in your paste. Mix it up real good so its all coated well.

Pack it into a mason jar or fermenter. If using a Mason just dont crank the lid down or use a lid with a air lock. I didnt bother because it only sets out a few days before going in the fridge for a couple weeks

Top off with some of the liquid from the weeping as needed. Making sure to get it all down into the jar so any air bubble are removed.

Its good now after almost 3 days. Just checked and its bubbling away. Ready for the fridge tonite. ATM it smells sour but the sugars tame down the sour a ton atm. Within a week or two it will be pucker sour.

Kkakdugi...(Radish Kimchi)...More or less Maangchi's recipe with a little pear added.

 

[Oldskewl]

Interesting! I assume that is Daikon radish?

 

[Evilgrin]

I used daikon but traditional is a Korean radish. I cant tell much of a difference really and "mu" is a large rounder radish. I can get these at our Korean market cheap but 1 would have filled more than a quart jar. I used a piece of daikon about a foot long. Its also sweet pickled another way with vinegar and sugar. Then served with fried chicken.

 

[Evilgrin]

Kraut day.
3 16oz bags Wally World Slaw mix....they dont carry the Dole
2% canning salt by weight (27 grams)
1 heaping TBS of HOT Korean pepper flakes...These are Korean origin not China grown. Very expensive and much hotter.
1 TBS of juice from the last batch of kraut

Weeping now for 2 hours. Mixing it up every 30min.

 

[Oldskewl]

Evilgrin, any recommended brand of gochugaru? I ran out in the middle of making kimchi tonight. Ran to the Asian store and they were out. Apparently they have not been able to get it the last 2 orders due to the corona virus. I’ve used Assi brand in the past. I came across this searching tonight. Lot more expensive though%

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0791C6Y9L

 

[Evilgrin]

That one is highend Korean pepper flakes.

You probably want this though...Its a coarse grind and a tad milder
https://www.amazon.com/Premium-Kore...B7RC9FPXC54&psc=1&refRID=SZCEQXJFKB7RC9FPXC54

 

[Oldskewl]

That one is highend Korean pepper flakes.

You probably want this though...Its a coarse grind and a tad milder
https://www.amazon.com/Premium-Kore...B7RC9FPXC54&psc=1&refRID=SZCEQXJFKB7RC9FPXC54

Thanks. I missed the course grind. Have you used the premium Korean gochugaru before. Just wonder if it’s worth 3 times the price of the Assi brand?

 

[Evilgrin]

Yep, that is whats in this last batch. Its around 4 times the cost of China grown. I get Assi for around $8/2lbs. This was about $18/lb at our local market.

Assi has good flavor but its high in sodium. JayOne brand is another grown in China but packaged in Korea. Its also excellent but the sodium is way less. JayOne is out of stock on Amazon but frankly Amazon is very high priced for gochugaru. Might as well get real Korean grown for the price difference on Amazon.
https://www.jayonefoods.com/red-pepper-powder

 

[Oldskewl]

Whipped up a fresh batch of kimchi tonight. Had to get some fresh gochugaru as mine got moldy in the pantry.

 

[Staestc]

Travis LOL at Polish Mexican bistro in England! Now that’s a high-speed cultural collision for sure!

Was looking at this thread again. @Temptd2 Over Christmas I finally did make that red cabbage dish I was talking about here back in 2019! I think I posted it on the cooking thread. Not fermented, but was a German/Polish recipe called Rotkohl and it was just awesome! But now that my peppers have all died from the cold I have fermenters freed up, so am looking to start some Kraut and Kimchi